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Bankers
expect RBI to cut rates further Ban on cement exports lifted Punjab & Sind Bank targets 30 pc growth
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OIL defers IPO to next fiscal Rupee loses 76 paise Tatas to inject ‘millions of pounds’ into JLR Kingfisher rules out fare cut for now Fuel prices may be cut before elections Tata Sons hikes stake in Tata Comm Cairn finds gas, oil in Rajasthan
3G pre-bid meet today
Two more banks cut lending, deposit rates
Investment plans on track: ONGC
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Bankers
expect RBI to cut rates further Mumbai, December 22 Bankers are expecting repo and reverse repo rates to be cut by another 50 to 100 points before the year-end. "Rates could be cut sharply if inflation continues to fall sharply," said a banker. Bankers are also demanding that the RBI cuts the cash reserve ratio, the funds banks have to compulsorily park with the apex bank. A reduction in CRR would release more funds to the banks for lending. The RBI had only last week said that concerns of galloping inflation were past and its focus would be on growth which was showing signs of slowing down sharply. There is also concern in New Delhi that deflationary pressures could sharply hit the Indian economy if remedial action is not taken urgently. The government has already indicated that it would introduce a fresh stimulus package targeted at sectors which were not provided with measures earlier. There is also a strong expectation that some Income Tax reliefs could be granted to individual tax payers. Meanwhile, the markets have already begun to factor in rate cuts by the RBI. India's benchmark 10-year bonds have been gaining sharply as investors await another round of rate cuts. The RBI has already cut its benchmark repo rate to 6.5 per cent from 7.5 per cent on December 6. This was the third cut since October last. According to bankers, Indian financial institutions expect to mobilise huge amounts by way of fixed deposits. "Bank deposits with a lock-in period that enjoy income tax exemptions will gain popularity by March," a banking official said. With the stock markets down, investors are not likely to invest in ELSS schemes, diverting funds to bank deposits. Banks are expected to slash interest on deposits further in order to lend money to the corporate sector at competitive rates. High interest rates has already reduced borrowing by corporates, according to banking analysts.
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New Delhi, December 22 The ban has been lifted with immediate effect, according to a notification of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade. The government had slapped a ban on cement exports in April after a sharp rise in prices. Besides, rise in cement prices had a cascading effect on other sectors. With easing of inflation to a single digit and the slowdown in the industrial activity, the government is more worried over the deceleration in manufacturing and loss of jobs. Of the 175 million tonnes production, cement exports account for a small portion of below five per cent. Most of it takes place from Gujarat. Demand from the real estate and construction sector has seen a sharp slowdown in the face of credit crunch and high interest rates. Though banks have reduced interest on housing loans, it would be a long haul before the demand is revived, experts feel. "It is good step; but will have a marginal effect as 75 per cent of total exports are from Gujarat which had already been given an exemption to export ban," Cement Manufacturers' Association president H M Bangur said. Bangur demanded restriction on imports in the wake of slowdown in domestic demand and pressure on the industry. — TPI
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Punjab & Sind Bank targets 30 pc growth
Chandigarh, December 22 This was stated by R.P. Singh, chairman, Punjab and Sind Bank, on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Chamber of Chandigarh Industries. He said though they were initially targeting a growth of 20 per cent for this fiscal, they were likely to see a 30 per cent increase in its deposits and advances. “The total deposits of the bank stand at Rs 29,000 crore, while the advances of the bank stand at Rs 22,500 crore, thus making Punjab and Sind Bank one of the fastest-growing public sector banks in India,” he said. The current position is a far cry from the year 2004, when Punjab and Sind Bank was incurring huge losses. Till the year 2004-05, the bank was making huge losses. But the recovery policies adopted by the bank over the past three years, helped the bank recover Rs 1,200 crore. “We have also managed to recover Rs 150 crore from the technically written off accounts and hope to recover Rs 250 crore from these accounts by the end of this financial year,” the bank CMD said. The bank now has the lowest gross NPA at 0.7 per cent and net NPA at 0.29 per cent in the industry. The return on assets is amongst the highest at 1.49 per cent. In the last financial year, the bank had managed to achieve a growth of 56 per cent in advances. He said the focus of the bank was now to have a pan-India presence and expand the reach in the business hubs of the country. “We will be opening 30 bank branches in areas where we do not have our presence. We will also open more branches in areas like Mumbai and Kolkata, where we can get maximum business. But the emphasis is on increasing the reach of the bank by opening more ATMs. We have also embarked on a journey to have all branches on core banking. Of the 900 branches, we will have 100 branches on CBS this year, and 350 in the first three quarters of the next fiscal,” he said.
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OIL defers IPO to next fiscal
New Delhi, December 22 "Market is volatile and conditions bad for an IPO. We do not think we can go ahead with the plans under such a scenario," OIL director (finance) S Ananthkumar told reporters here. OIL, the nation's second biggest state-run oil and gas explorer, was to launch its IPO of 2.64 crore equity shares on November 10, but the reversal of fortunes on the stock markets led to its deferment by a few weeks. It now has been put back for at least a couple of months. "We are closely watching the market conditions. Whenever it appears that the market has stabilised, we will launch it," Ananthkumar said but refused to put any date to the offering. Asked if the IPO may come only next fiscal, he said: "as of now, we can take that view." OIL, he said, has capital market regulator SEBI's approval, valid till September 10, 2009.
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Mumbai, December 22 In fairly active trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic unit resumed higher at 47.39/40 a dollar and touched a high of 47.30 in early trade following an initial rally in local equities. But heavy dollar buying by foreign as well as local banks pushed the rupee to a low of 48.10 at the fag end. According to a forex dealer, state-owned banks were seen buying dollars on behalf of their clients, mainly oil refiners, to meet their month-end demand, which put pressure on the rupee in the later part of the day. Finally, the rupee ended at 48.02/03 a dollar, down by a whopping 1.61 per cent over the previous close of 47.26/27. — PTI
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Tatas to inject ‘millions of pounds’ into JLR London, December 22 "Tata, the Indian owner of Jaguar Land Rover, has agreed to inject 'tens of millions' of pounds into the British car company to prevent an immediate cash flow crisis, while the government continues to consider the case for a taxpayer- funded bail out," the Financial Times has reported. Jaguar Land Rover has been reportedly seeking financial assistance from the government to the tune of £1 billion in the wake of sharp fall in sales and credit crisis. Further, the car maker's chief David Smith has cautioned of thousands of job losses unless it receives emergency aid. Meanwhile, the Financial Times in its report published online on Sunday noted that the cash injection from Tatas has bought ministers breathing space to respond to demands for multi-billion pound loan guarantees from the car sector. Quoting a government insider, the daily said, "They (Tata) have managed to solve the immediate difficulties so may be they can resolve some others as well." Last week, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had said the government does not have "an open cheque book" for ailing private companies and Tatas have the "first responsibility" to ensure the survival of the luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover. — PTI
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Kingfisher rules out fare cut for now
Mumbai, December 22 However, once the government brought aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the "Declared Goods" category, it would immediately and significantly reduce fares, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said. "The sharp and immediate spike in ATF prices earlier in the year has left a lasting impact on the bottomlines of the companies, leading to an accumulation of huge outstanding and liabilities with oil companies and the likes," the spokesperson said. As such, the cash flow needed to settle these accumulated liabilities and there was no case for a reduction in fares, he said. Earlier, Jet Airways' chairman Naresh Goyal had also said he was not in favour of any fare cut as long as ATF was not classified as `Declared Goods'. Over the last four months, there has been a sharp decline in ATF prices. While some air carriers had earlier this month reduced the fuel surcharge between Rs 200-400, they have not effected any fare cuts.— PTI |
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Fuel prices may be cut before elections
New Delhi, December 22 “To my mind, the government will wait till February before making another round of price cuts,” a senior petroleum ministry official said. India’s NELP rounds have resulted in 68 discoveries of oil and gas in 19 blocks, taking the country’s reserves to 500 million metric tonnes of oil and gas. In NELP, the committed investment on exploration is envisaged as $8.3 billion, out of which about $4.5 billion has already been incurred on exploration and about $1.5 billion on development of discoveries. Earlier this month, the government reduced petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre as international crude oil prices dipped from an all-time high of $147 a barrel in July to under $ 45 a barrel. “This period (till February) will be used to monitor the movements in international prices. There is no point in cutting fuel prices just now and then having to raise it again if oil makes a retreat,” the official said. Even after this month’s price cut, public sector oil firms were making a profit of Rs 9.98 on sale of every litre of petrol and Rs 1.03 per litre on diesel. The further softening in global oil prices has seen these profits widen to Rs 11.48 per litre on petrol and Rs 2.92 a litre on diesel, he said. The oil companies, however, continue to lose Rs 17.26 per litre on PDS kerosene and Rs 148.38 per domestic LPG cylinder.
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Tata Sons hikes stake in Tata Comm
Mumbai, December 22 The company has acquired 67.53 lakh shares representing 2.37 per cent stake in Tata Communications through an inter se transfer of shares, Tata Communications said in a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Inter se transfer refers to transfer of shares between or among group companies. With this acquisition, Tata Sons now holds 3.10 crore shares representing 10.88 per cent in Tata Communications, the filing added. According to the latest shareholder pattern available on the stock exchanges, the promoter group firms together hold over 76 per cent in the company firm. For the quarter ended September 30, 2008, other promoter group firms in Tata Communications include, Panatone Finvest which holds 40.70 per cent, Tata Power (0.90 per cent) and Government of India (26.12 per cent).— PTI |
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Cairn finds gas, oil in Rajasthan
New Delhi, December 22 Raageshwari East 1/1Z well encountered about 10 meters of net oil pay and 1.4 meters of gas pay, a company press statement said here. Cairn has made several oil and gas discoveries in its Rajasthan Block RJ-ON-90/1 and in the first phase is developing Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya oil finds to produce 175,000 barrels per day of crude oil in the second half of 2009.— PTI |
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New Delhi, December 22 DoT member (finance) R Ashok will preside over a day-long session tomorrow with the possible bidders in which he will give them details on auction rules, spectrum, qualification criteria, payment mode, process among others. The consultant to the government on 3G spectrum auction, N M Rothschild, will also make its presentation to the bidders. Other senior officials, who will attend the meet, include joint secretary, joint wireless advisor, senior DDGs and officials from finance ministry, Department of Information Technology and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, ministry of commerce. The pre-bid meet is crucial from the point of view that for the first time in India's telecom sector, spectrum will be auctioned. The all-India reserve price for a 3G spectrum is Rs 2,020 crore. According to an information memorandum, DoT will start accepting applications from December 26 with the final submissions to enter the auction being due till January 5. The list of shortlisted bidders will be announced on January 9 followed by a "mock-auction" to test the systems a few days later. The two telecom PSUs, BSNL and MTNL, will not participate in the meeting as they will not have to bid for the spectrum, they only have to pay the highest bidding amount in a circle.— PTI
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Two more banks cut lending, deposit rates Mumbai, December 22 The prime lending rates of BOI and BOB now stand reduced at 12.5 per cent, the banks said here. The reduction in PLR will provide relief to both the existing and new customers of these banks, including education, auto and home loan borrowers. The banks have also reduced their deposit rates in the range of 0.5-1 percentage point across various maturities. BoR announced a cut in its deposit rates except in the 91-120 days' maturity. For 91-120 days' maturity deposits, customers will now get 1.25 percentage point more as interest effective from December 22, the bank said.— PTI
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Investment plans on track: ONGC New Delhi, December 22 ONGC proposes to invest Rs 82,670 crore in five years to March 31, 2012 while its overseas subsidiary has planned an investment of another Rs 58,674 crore. The firm sells crude oil it produces at internationally traded price of oil. "We should not feel happy that (international oil) prices have eased. Major investment plans are being put on hold, which is a very disturbing scenario," ONGC chairman and managing director R.S. Sharma told reporters here. — PTI
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PNB to raise Rs 500 cr Unitech to raise Rs 5,000 cr BHEL bags Rs 1,175-cr order Order for Petron Engg Reliance Life plans Areva, Mitsubishi ink tie-up Fortis rights issue Nod to Peerless for MF biz Bajaj Hindusthan in the red
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The bank now has the lowest gross NPA at 0.7 per cent and net NPA at 0.29 per cent in the industry
